We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shadab Wajih. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shadab below.
Hi Shadab, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I don’t think I ever made it as a decision. It just kinda happened. I was art-oriented even as a kid, doodling and illustrating on my textbooks. I have always kept moving from one art medium to another. When I was in high school I wrote my first comics. Later I was doing my bachelors in business management but would do graffiti for night clubs as a side gig, which never really paid much but I had a blast doing it.
Eventually when I started looking for my first proper job I was honestly not looking for it to be a creative one, I didn’t even know careers in designs existed, let alone if they paid well enough for me to pursue them full-time. I remember I had just done an interview for working in a Nike store when I got a call for a Junior Graphic Designer position for a company that makes phone chargers and accessories. Fortunately the person who hired me didn’t care for the fact that I had absolutely no qualifications in a design background, I don’t think I would’ve ended up being where I am if it weren’t for him hiring me all those years ago.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am chiefly an Art Director and Graphic Designer right now. I work on various creative briefs for clients like McDonald’s, Walmart, Mountain Dew etc. I like to come up with ideas mostly centered around gaming. It allows me to consider all those hours I spend playing video games as “research”.
I also in my own time do a lot of digital art, mostly illustrations and collages. I have done a lot of work and projects related to football (soccer). Most of my personal work revolves around the music I listen to, the movies and shows I watch etc.
One thing I’m proud about my work is that I don’t really have a style, or even a medium. I can never stay on one way of doing things. I keep bouncing between vector art, photography, paintings, 3D, illustrations and so on.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I guess the first thing that comes to my mind is time. Many non-creative people equate time to effort, which is usually not accurate. Time is not a currency in my opinion which can be used to judge work. Many freelancers are paid based on how much time they spend on a project. The same work might be done by an experienced creative in a better way in a couple hours compared to one who might take days. I feel if we start judging work on quality and results rather than time spent on it, it would be a good step for a healthy creative ecosystem.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I don’t really have a single defining goal, which I think is great. Having a goal means having an end. If there is no destination then your creative journey will never end. I just keep trying new things and finding new things I like. There is so much to explore creatively and my list just keeps increasing.
Contact Info:
- Website: shadabwajih.com
- Instagram: @snikt13
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shadab-wajih-7999848a/